Sunset
by FlamingBlaze
Summary: Natsu takes Minerva out for a date. One shot. Slightly OoC.


**A/N: Took some time to do this. Hope you guys enjoy it. Takes place during the Grand Magic Games, and Minerva isn't as evil as portrayed in the story.**

Damn, it was hot.

Well, it probably wasn't actually hot. It was rarely actually hot for someone like Natsu Dragneel, who could engulf his bodies in flames and breath fire.

It was his damn NERVES.

Hard to think that one day, even Natsu Dragneel would be nervous.

He felt sweat sliding down his neck and onto his muffler, and his muffler just kept the heat in, unfortunately. Natsu drummed his fingers on his thighs nervously, anticipating what was to come.

Erza looked over, curious. "What's wrong, Natsu? You don't look so great."

Natsu looked over, startled. "Uh, n-no, I'm fine!" He stuttered, obviously nervous.

_Natsu stuttering? Thought I'd never see the day._ Erza smiled, amused, before returning to her cake.

_BAM!_

The door was thrown open, smashing against the wall with a frightful bang. Everyone looked over to find a woman standing there, with beautiful features; her face was generally round with a delicate chin, and hawk-like eyes, yet a soft black that accentuated her look. Her body was generally curvaceous, standing there in a flowing white blouse that barely reached her waist, blue jeans, and black boots with fur rimming the entrance. No doubt about it; she was gorgeous.

In the instant their eyes found her, the men's jaws all dropped to the ground as they admired her beauty while the women all looked on in jealousy. She ignored that, obviously used to their reactions while scanning through the crowd. When she finally found who she was looking for, her eyebrows rose as she found Natsu hiding behind his chair.

"Natsu..." She growled, obviously impatient. "Get over here..."

Natsu stood, trying to hide his trembling. He walked over there, sweat pouring down his neck and dampening his muffler. "Yes...Minerva..."

The men's jaws dropped further down (if that was even possible) when they realized she had come for Natsu.

"Now, let us be on our way." Minerva beckoned to Natsu, and they walked out.

* * *

"So..." Natsu started nervously. "What do you want to eat?"

Minerva looked over the menu, reclining in her plush leather chair. "Hmmm...I think I'll have this fried zucchini with lamb chops and some caviar, please."

The waiter jotted all of this down and then looked at Natsu. "Uh...the same as her." The waiter nodded and rushed off to report it to the chefs.

"Uh...so...how do you know this restaurant?" Natsu looked at the restaurant in awe, admiring the crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the clear glass staircases, marble fountains, and embroidered carpets. "I mean, look at this place..."

Minerva glanced at the place, unimpressed. "Hmm? Sabertooth members come here often. We consider this 'our place'."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Really? Well, we're more of a partying guild, so we go to bars more often. After all, I don't suppose fancy places like this will allow crazy parties."

Minerva was amused. "Well, maybe you should come here more often. It'll mellow your spirit."

"No, no, no," Natsu was back to his regular self, having got over his nerves when Minerva had slapped him through a tree. "I should take you to our parties. They're awesome!"

Minerva didn't reply, surprised. She was secretly touched by his offer, but the female mage didn't let it show. Natsu looked down, thinking he had said something wrong. He tried to change the subject to bring back the conversation: "What's your magic? I've never seen it before."

"It's called Territory," Minerva said. "I can manipulate space with it."

"That's awesome!" Natsu replied, relieved that the conversation was going again. "It must be really useful in a fight!"

Minerva was annoyed. _He talks about magic and fights on a date? _"Yeah...yeah, I guess."

"Would you be able to block all my attacks?" The dragon slayer mused. "I mean, you can just like teleport them away. Hey, but that means my magic would be useless against you...Wait, no. I guess you can't block all of it, can you? That would make you invincible if you could..." Minerva fumed silently, angry that this type of talk would be taking place.

Natsu went on, talking about his magic and wondering things about Territory. He didn't notice the female mage's silence, or her expression while a nearby female waitress watched the exchange in amusement. She wondered when her boyfriend would finally catch on.

"Two fried zucchinis with lamb chops, right up!" The waitress announced, sliding the plates of delicious food onto the table. Natsu dug into his food with enthusiasm, while Minerva poked at her food before taking a bite reluctantly. Natsu went on, talking about fights and the fights he went through: "...and so I punched him so hard that it shattered his ice shield, 'cause after all, ice magic is weak against fire-"

_Bang!_

Natsu stopped abruptly and looked up to see that Minerva was stalking towards the door furiously, and she had stabbed her knife and fork onto the table. The fire dragon slayer looked after her, confused as to why she was walking away. _How did I screw up? _Natsu thought frantically. _I thought it was going fine! _"She probably just wants some fresh air." He said aloud, more to reassure himself than a simple thought.

Suddenly, Natsu felt a sharp pain on his left cheek as something struck his face, and he was sent reeling back, "What the hell?" The dragon slayer shouted, looking up to find the female waitress beside him, right hand raised and obviously pissed at something. "What was that for?!"

The female waitress leaned down, her face inches from Natsu's frightened face. "Do you really think that she would stab a fork into a table while 'getting fresh air'?" She said, making quote marks with her hands.

"N-no..."

"Exactly," the waitress smiled menacingly. "Now, what were you talking about just then?"

"Getting fresh air?"

The waitress slapped him again, making him scream bloody murder before quieting down. "I meant before that, you idiot!"

"U-Uh...my fight with Gray?"

The waitress nodded. "And do you think your girlfriend would want to listen to that during a romantic dinner?" She gestured at the table frantically, trying to get the clueless dragon slayer to understand.

"She's not my girlfrien-" Natsu stopped, seeing the look she was giving him. "I mean, no, she wouldn't?"

"And..."

"She wants to hear about my fight with Erz-owww!"

"If you don't want to get slapped again, you better use some common sense."

"Uh...she wants to hear about..."

"Hear about..."

"Romantic stuff!"

The waitress nodded, relieved that the idiot had finally realized it. "So what're you waiting for? Go after her!"

Natsu nodded. "Thanks!" He said, running off.

The waitress sighed, before turning around to find that she was getting a lot of angry stares from around the restaurant. She winced. "Sorry..."

* * *

Minerva was sitting on a bench outside, watching the setting sun as it lit up the sky various shades of orange, making it seem like the sky was on fire. Minerva couldn't help but admire the peaceful beauty, albeit sadly.

_It would be better if someone were here to admire it with me, _the raven-haired mage thought in disappointment. She heard laughter coming behind her and Minerva turned to find a couple behind her, admiring the landscape and laughing pleasantly. Minerva turned her head away, and her wandering mind came onto Natsu. _If only he understood a girl's heart better..._

"Space for me?"

Minerva was startled out of her thoughts, and looked up to find Natsu standing next to her, an expression on his face that was hard to discern. Minerva scooted over gently, not saying a thing.

"The sunset really is beautiful, eh?"

Minerva nodded. "Yes. Yes, it is."

"This sunset brings back a lot of memories," Natsu said, still rubbing where the waitress had slapped him. "When I was with Igneel, we would being training early in the morning and end during sunset. The ol' dragon always said that when you're far from civilization, the sun was your clock.

So once, we had finished training-and mind you, it's from Igneel that I got the like of fighting I have today-so we were watching the sunset, just like right now except we were sitting on top of a cliff, with me on Igneel's head to help me get a better view of it. And that one day we were talking and he said: 'You know why I'm here myself, Natsu?' and I told him I had never really thought about it. So then the old guy told me that dragons typically take mates early on in their lives and stay with each other until death.

He went on, his mate had died early on of a sickness, but one thing he never forgot was when they first mated. Igneel then said that when dragons mate, they typically do a certain thing. And so I asked him 'What's that thing?' and he just answered: 'Watch the sunset, Natsu. It's why we do it everyday; it reminds me of that first time." Minerva's eyes widened in realization as she registered what he was saying.

"Back then, I didn't know what he meant, and it never really occurred to me often. It was only recently that I remembered, because it was after Igneel left that I began thinking about those past memories. And I think what he meant was, 'When you're going to mate, watch the sunset," and in a strange way, it makes sense. It's sort of like remembering my father while staying in the present." Natsu looked at her. "You get my drift?"

Minerva smiled and said: "Yes."

She leaned in and kissed him.

**A/N: I really don't know where this came from. Most of the time when I write one shots I let my thoughts run wild. That's why I delete so many of them, but I like where it went this time.**


End file.
